The printmaking process provides the starting point, subject matter and methods for my practice. This often produces surprising end results. These include sculptures, unprinted, low-relief pieces on a variety of surfaces, as well as prints on paper.
Although I produce some figurative work, the vast majority is abstract, because I am more interested in texture, form and the overall visual power of my imagery than in direct reflections of nature.
After some years experimenting with semi-abstract landscape photography, I felt that I had exhausted its creative possibilities. In 2013, I attended a taster day producing texture-based prints at The Ropewalk, an arts centre and gallery near the Humber Bridge. This opened my eyes to almost endless possibilities for producing impactful images and exploring texture through the use of synthetic and natural materials.
I am an active, exhibiting member of the Printmakers Council.
For the past two years I have been investigating ways in which I might ‘escape the frame’ – moving beyond traditional forms of printmaking where prints are presented flat and behind glass. As texture is an important element in my work, it has seemed increasingly counter-intuitive to flatten it in this way.
Flexures are paper sculptures made from sheets of paper that have been pre-creased in multiple directions, folded, opened up again and then printed on. The dried prints are then re-creased to form free-standing sculptures. The differing directions to the paper folds offer an almost endless number of possibilities for the form of the Flexure.